The Herb King

190 Nervous Teachers

A few days later, the entrance examination of the Mystic Arcana Institute of Magic officially started...

Aethelwolf was combing Olivia’s hair in front of a mirror. “Do you want me to braid your hair?” He asked while looking at her reflection in the mirror.

Olivia shook her head. “No. I don’t want to tie my hair.” She replied.

Aethelwolf smiled and patted her head. “Alright. Have you studied the notes I prepared for you?”

Olivia nodded eagerly. “Yes! Aenwyn also taught me how to control my strength and I even learned noble etiquette from her.”

“Oh? You two seem to have grown close. You even call her by her name now. Aenwyn is older than you and she is also the princess of an elven kingdom so you have to treat her with respect, okay?”

Olivia raised her head and said. “Papa, Aenwyn told me that I can call her by her name. She said that other people might be suspicious if we talk to her politely.”

.....

Aethelwolf pondered for a moment and nodded his head in agreement. “Is that so?”

Suddenly, a voice interrupted them. “Sir Aethelwolf, I believe that you should treat me like a servant in public. After all, everyone knows that I have a Slave Rune on me so they would be suspicious if you treat me differently. Besides, that person called Brian might sense that something is wrong so we should be careful in public.”

“Good morning, Aenwyn!” Olivia waved her hand and excitedly jogged towards Aenwyn.

Aethelwolf turned his head and saw the white-haired elven princess. She was wearing a black custom-made guard’s uniform with the Lassiter Household’s symbol embroidered on the left chest area. It has some golden trims in some parts that accentuated the black fabric.

Aenwyn looked like a dignified warrior and coupled with her expressionless face, she looked like an unapproachable icy beauty.

Aethelwolf walked up to her and smiled. “Good morning. Did you have trouble adjusting well to our empire?”

Aenwyn shook her head and replied in a calm voice. “Everything has been great so far and I learned a lot from your advice so there’s no trouble at all.”

“That’s good. Let’s go. We might be late for the exams if we don’t leave now.” Aethelwolf said.

“Papa, I’ll go to Janrose’s room and check if she is ready.” Olivia didn’t even wait for his reply and went out of the room in a hurry.

Aethelwolf chuckled as he went out of the room while Aenwyn trailed behind him.

“Sir Aethelwolf, are you sure that it would be fine for me to go together with you guys?” Aenwyn suddenly asked.

Aethelwolf looked at her.

She still had an expressionless face, but Aethelwolf could somehow feel that she was nervous.

He patted her shoulders gently as he said. “Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”

Aenwyn looked at him and nodded her head lightly.

“Let’s go.”

Soon, Aethelwolf and the others rode a carriage to the academy.

When they arrived, there was already a long line of people going in and out of the premises.

“Sir Aethelwolf, it seems like there are a lot of applicants, but how come there are only a few people from ordinary families? Look! Most of the people who are here are dressed like nobles and there are only some dressed in plain clothes.” Janrose looked through the windows of the carriage.

Aethelwolf furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the crowd. He noticed that Janrose was right. “Hyacinth, Albert, go with the kids and bring them to their respective examination rooms. I’ll go somewhere else.” He said before going out of the carriage. Aenwyn silently followed him.

“Papa seems to be angry.” Olivia muttered.

“Sir Aethelwolf wants the academy to be fair in taking students so he must be confused why there are only a few applicants who come from ordinary households.” Albert said.

Hyacinth snorted as she said. “It looks like some members of the faculty are causing trouble. They might have pulled some strings to prevent more ordinary families from applying to the academy. How could Sir Aethelwolf not be angry?”

“They must be tired of living. I’m sure that Sir Aethelwolf would kick them out of the academy soon.” Janrose chuckled.

Meanwhile, Aethelwolf entered the faculty room. His arrival made the teachers jump up in surprise.

“Greetings, headmaster!” They bowed lightly as they greeted in unison.

Aethelwolf coldly glanced at them and muttered. “Who is responsible for distributing the enrollment notice?”

The teachers glanced at each other in silence. They could sense that the headmaster was displeased.

A moment later, Madilyn Urgel who was dressed in formal attire stepped forward and said. “Headmaster, the team responsible for distributing the enrollment notice is Sir Joseph Maynard’s group. Is there anything wrong?”

“Joseph Maynard?” Aethelwolf furrowed his eyebrows when he heard this name. He then looked at Madilyn and asked her. “Where is he?”

Madilyn stared at the group of teachers before turning her gaze back to Aethelwolf. “Sir Joseph is not here yet, headmaster.”

Aethelwolf checked the time on his watch and frowned. “It’s almost time for the examination to start. Why is he not here yet?”

“Headmaster, Sir Dave Maynard might know where Sir Joseph is. They are from the same group.” Madilyn said as she looked at a middle-aged man who was standing nervously behind the other teachers.

Aethelwolf followed her gaze. “Dave Maynard step forward.” He uttered coldly.

Dave Maynard glared at Madilyn before walking nervously towards Aethelwolf. “Headmaster.” He bowed his head lightly. He might be from the Maynard Household and a Level 3 Blacksmith, but he still felt small in front of Aethelwolf.

“Tell me, why are there only a few applicants from ordinary families?” Aethelwolf asked while looking at the middle-aged man.

Dave Maynard didn’t even dare raise his head. He hesitated for a moment, but he still answered stutteringly. “That... Sir Joseph said that there is no need for us to place the enrollment notice in the poor districts or towns so our group decided not to go to those places. Headmaster, I’m only following his commands. I-”

“Enough!” Aethelwolf shouted.

“Who else is part of their group?” Aethelwolf glanced at the teachers who were cowering in fear.

A few seconds later, two people stepped forward nervously.

“Sir Aethelwolf, we are part of Sir Joseph’s group, but we didn’t dare oppose his commands. We are afraid of his retaliation so we could only follow him.”

Aethelwolf grabbed a cigar and lit it up while listening to their excuses. He took a puff and blow smoke into the face of Dave. “You are afraid of his retaliation, so you chose to ignore my commands instead. Have you forgotten the rules we talked about last time? You people are not even treating me seriously. And please remember to call me Headmaster when we are inside the academy. Am I clear?” His voice was calm but Dave and the other two teachers felt their legs becoming weaker as time went by.

“Yes, Headmaster!” The three answered right away.

Suddenly, a brown-skinned middle-aged man with a buff physique entered the faculty room. “Sorry I’m late, everyone. There are a lot of people outside so I had a hard time going here.”

Aethelwolf glanced at the man. “You must be Joseph Maynard, the heir of the Maynard Household.”

Joseph Maynard’s eyes narrowed when he heard this. “How could that be? I’m not as talented as my brother, Enrique so I could only be a second option at best.” He said while forcing out a smile.

Aethelwolf revealed a strange smile. He then walked up to Joseph and moved his lips close to the man’s ears. “Not if he is dead...” He whispered before he moved away.

Joseph Maynard’s expression changed, but he quickly forced himself to remain calm. He then looked at Aethelwolf and for some reason, he was bothered by his smile.

“Sir Joseph, tell me. Why did you not follow what I told you? Could it be that you are dissatisfied that I am the headmaster?” Aethelwolf’s tone turned sharp all of a sudden and everyone dared not speak.

The teachers felt as if they were on pins and needles.

Joseph unconsciously took a step back under Aethelwolf’s cold gaze. “H-Headmaster, I... I was only thinking about the welfare of the academy. I don’t think that there is a need to invite those with ordinary backgrounds since they would only be a waste of resources. We should focus our attention on nurturing the elites sent by the noble households. Most of their young offspring are talented so they don’t need a lot of resources. Fur-”

Aethelwolf grabbed him by the neck and lifted him. “I told you guys that we should be impartial to our students and applicants regardless of gender, background, or status!” This time, everyone could clearly hear the anger in his voice.

Ack! Ek!

Joseph grabbed Aethelwolf’s arm and tried to escape from his grasp, but the man was holding him tightly so he could only flail his legs.